


Broken

by stannabeth



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Book 4: The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus), F/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Post-Tartarus (Percy Jackson), Self-Harm, percabeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23255596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stannabeth/pseuds/stannabeth
Summary: The Pit haunted her. It stole from her. It broke her.Post-tartarus trauma. TW for minor self-harm.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Kudos: 37





	Broken

**Author's Note:**

> TW: There is self-harm in this as there is a scene where Annabeth repeatedly hits her head against the headboard. 
> 
> Reader discretion is advised.

The Pit haunted her. It stole from her. It broke her.

She was strong, sure. But even strong people have a limit. Her mind was never right since then, never at ease. Her thoughts haunted her steps, they kept her in bed, they stole her appetite. 

But they couldn’t know that. She was their leader, and whether they liked it or not she had to be strong. At least, she had to act like it. 

But how can you be strong when your mind is so weak?

She knew he was broken too. His eyes were never quite the same. The brightness was gone, the light within him had fizzled out. 

She slept without sleeping. The Pit couldn’t leave her even with her eyes closed. She was blind. She was blind, and he had left her. Sleep had left her. Life had left her. 

She was alone.

Loneliness is a dangerous thing. It invites your thoughts in, the ones that suffocate you. And drown you. And make you lose hope. And those thoughts, they steal from you.

Everything becomes unbalanced. 

The ship tilted, hard. She didn’t fight it. Her head hit the headboard and her vision blurred. The pain was good. She wanted more. She needed more. 

She was already broken, why not break some more?

She sat up, and her body lurched forward. She didn’t know if it was the ship or her dizziness, and quite frankly, she didn’t care. 

She steadied herself. Putting all her weight into it, she let her body fall. 

Fall.

She was falling.

Down.

Down.

Down.

There was no time in the Pit. Did they fall for 30 minutes? 30 hours? 30 years?

She felt the pain before she heard the thud. Her head pounded to the beat of her heart, filling the empty space of her room. 

She steadied herself again, and this time the world spun even harder. The world went black. 

Black. 

She was blind. 

No one would come for her. Why should they?

She was broken. No one wants a broken leader.

Her vision cleared, and she was laying on her stomach. Her head pounded, her face burning against the cool sheets.

She picked herself up, and continued.

Fall. Hit. Black. 

Fall. Hit. Black.

The pain was good, and it was welcome. 

And she had succumbed to the blackness and the pain and the brokenness, and she didn’t realize that she wasn’t alone. 

Those broken green eyes were so full of concern that it filled her with shame. She had let him down. Again.

She spoke and her voice was foreign to her. “I promise, it’s not what it looks like.”

And those green eyes were full of something else.

She brushed a tear from his cheek. “Please don’t cry.”

He brought her into a hug, and cradled her head, rubbing his thumb over the place where she had hit it. 

And it hurt.

And she hated it. 

She hated feeling this way, feeling so broken she wanted, _needed _, to break more.__

__And he held her, and continued to hold her, until her eyes grew heavy, her mind wandering into emptiness._ _

__And this time the Pit did not follow._ _

**Author's Note:**

> This was based off of Prompt List #2 by wishiwasanavenger on tumblr. (Angst #5 "Please don't cry.")
> 
> Sorry for any grammar or spelling errors, i didn't edit this oops.


End file.
